The 2023 governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has ruled out the possibility of aligning with the political structure of President Bola Tinubu to enable him to become the governor of Lagos State.

Rhodes-Vivour said it would be a complete waste of time for him to do so.

Asked whether he saw himself aligning with Tinubu’s style of politics in Lagos, the former LP candidate, who appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, said, “No, I will rather go and focus on my business, my work, and my family. That [aligning with Tinubu] will be a complete waste of time.

“The reason why we are in politics is to make the lives of Lagosians better; it is to restore Lagos to its old glory — glory that a lot of people might not really be familiar with in terms of the history of Lagos, and the greatness that Lagos once was.

“Any party that will not allow me to maximize the commonwealth of Lagos for the benefit of its people is a complete waste of time.”

He said that Lagos would be better if the domination of “Agberocracry” was expunged.

“As you have highlighted, I have moved from the KOWA party to the PDP to the Labour Party, now to the ADC. I am convinced that Lagos will be so much better and will breathe a breath of fresh air if the domination of what has become ‘Agberocracy’ is removed from the neck of Lagos State.

“This thuggery, where politicians believe that they don’t have to serve the people, instead, they rely on violence to suppress and intimidate the people. And that is something that does not align with me in any way, shape, or form,” said Rhodes-Vivour.

He said he chose to join the coalition in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to face the ruling party.

Asked whether he would contest the Lagos State governorship election in 2027 on the platform of the ADC, he said, “By God’s grace.”

The Lagos politician said the 2023 presidential candidate of the LP, Peter Obi, was aware of his decision to move to the ADC.

He argued that the coalition was the only way for the opposition to win in the 2027 general elections.

Rhodes-Vivour said that the crisis in the Labour Party had made it difficult for internal activities to be held without distractions.

The former LP member explained that the ADC event in Lagos, which was disrupted on Saturday, did not require police permission as it was the constitutional right of the participants to meet.

He also alleged that while the ADC was denied the right to meet, the ruling APC was allowed to hold an event.

Lagos has been under the political control of Tinubu since 1999.

Since completing his second term in office as governor in 2007, he has played a major role in the emergence of successive governors in the state.

Tinubu became President in 2023 after he was declared as the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), but the opposition coalition, which officially adopted the ADC as its political platform, has vowed to defeat him in the 2027 presidential election.

Leading members of the group are former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Obi, and former governors of Rivers, Kaduna and Osun state, Rotimi Amaechi, Nasir El-Rufai, and Rauf Aregbesola.

A former president of the Senate, David Mark, emerged at the party’s interim chairman, while Aregbesola emerged as the interim national secretary (Channels TV)

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